spafrica2003

My wife picked up one of these on Black Friday for $50, so this seems like a good deal.

We love our bag. I used it the last time I was on a business trip. I was able to just take the bag and it had all the charger cords I needed built right in. It saved me hassle of packing the cords, reduced the chance I'd forget a cord in the hotel, and it's great for your electronics because it can provide a quick supply of juice if you need it and a plug isn't handy.

ytrozs

Grabbed one of these for family road trips. Two iPhones, two iPods, and two iPads, one of which is often used while in the car for long periods. This kills two birds with one stone:

(a) Dedicated bag for putting all the devices, cables and wall warts in.

(b) Charging device for iPad while in car.

The iPhones and iPods can charge off the car power ports, the iPad doesn't. And the second iPad, well, that's being used far less for games and movies and more for reading material, so it can go for 10-12 hours without needing a zap. A quick overnight charge at the hotel for the bag and devices will keep the kids happy for that long drive through the visual wonderland that is Texas.

redfame

I think folks are missing the use of it. This doesn't replace your bedside charger, or even your desk charging station. This is for those times when you forgot to charge, or when you are having one of those heavy use days, and need a bump to get through the evening without dying. I use it for emergencies, or extension of my daily use NOT replacing my everyday charging needs.

I leave my laptop charging cable in the office, and suck their free power to my bag.

emesimer

What is the model number for the messenger? I want a checkpoint friendly bag, and can't tell if this is RFAP-0015P or not. RFAP-0015P supposedly has a 6000mAh battery, so I am guessing not, but I can't find any other messenger bags on the powerbag site.

vhalik

I bought this bag for the bag itself. Charging my electronics was a bonus for me. I upgraded the power pack to the 6000. Works awesome. I wonder if people realize you can upgrade the power pack? Just go to amazon and buy the power pack by itself.

Goosedude

Ok....
I purchased the POWERBAG MESSENGER bag last fall on WOOT at a good savings from its normal price and have traveled quite a bit with it.

Things to know about the bag:
1. The charging system works great and the little pocket for the bag's AC is great. The cables are not reroutable between the pockets however. iPHONE gets the big pocket.

2. You can upgrade to a 6000mah battery if you wish...and larger sizes are coming.

3. You can also remove the battery and charge it separately from the bag with the AC Adapter.

4. You can charge your devices thru the bag while the bag is charging. A convenient meter on the front shows the bags current charge.

5. The accessories pockets are small...this is not a bag for a long trip but more of a commuter bag.

6. My 15.6" Asus K55N fits perfectly in the bag...if your tablet has a case it will not slide easily into the tablet pouch.

7. The bag through airport security has not been an issue. Any bag that you have that holds a ton of electronics will get the same discrimination.

8. The build of the bag is good...my only complaint is the shoulder strap handles should have been flat instead of half moons.

9. The Battery has its own USB port so you can attach any device USB Charging cord that you may need (like the new iPhone 5 charging cable)

10. While having a separate portable battery charger is an option....this all in one package has its advantages. You can just charge all your devices by plugging in the bag at airports or when you get home. The standard 3000MA is not the biggest battery but its great in an emergency for tablets and more than enough for phones.

pbandito

whartonsprinter

For $40, this is a bargain. I have two of these Powerbags, both backpack style - the smaller one with a 3000mAh battery (gift from the wife) and the larger backpack with a 6000mAh battery (gift to self before knowing wife made her purchase). they are well made, sturdy, show no signs of wear after 6 months of use, and the batteries keep on charging. I am able to charge all of my smaller USB based electronics (SG3, iPad) in addition to my Asus tablet (albeit slowly). For those of you who want to charge your laptop, get something else. If you want a portable power supply for your USB based gadgets, buy this one. Stop whining about the price, forego two lattes and buy this.

alphaketo

You have to charge the battery at home, put it in the bag and then charge the device with the bag's outlet.

I can understand solar bags, but this? Way cheaper to get 3 extra batteries for the cellphone.

Actually you just plug the bag in wherever. It's really good for me incase i forgot to plug my phone up and am late for a class. Additionally you can plug a couple of devices then plug the bag up and not have to worry about keeping track of them

west3man

I don't need to justify this purchase the way I thought I did. The battery back-up, ALONE, is worth forty bucks. (So's the bag, for that matter.)

And, for those suggesting that people just buy a backup battery instead, not every device has that option. iPads and iPhones, for instance, require some type of external accessory to meet that need.

Well, here it is.

AND, people have mentioned that there are additional battery packs that one can buy to add to the available charging capacity. Well, it just occurred to me that it'd be just as easy to buy another bag for that purpose. Then I'd have even greater versatility.

So, I got the sling and the other bag. I can bring the additional battery, if that's ever a concern on a trip or I can let my lady use one bag while I use the other.

Or, I can use one for when I'm biking and one for when I'm travelling or prefer to look a tiny bit more professional.

I hadn't even heard of this until less than a month, ago. I'm so glad I didn't buy the one I saw in Von Maur for more than twice the price. It was so small (maybe it was the sling?) that we were sure my slimmest laptop wouldn't even fit in it.

I'm so psyched - especially since MegaCON is coming up.

Hopefully, though, if there's a problem, Woot will be more responsive than they were with the laptop that I contacted them about. Notta peep.

nurlip

I just got my messenger Powerbag in the mail yesterday so here is my (perhaps overly long) 'beta' review.

I'll start with the 'cons' then get to the good stuff but i won't make you read to the end to get my overall rating: 4 stars (out of 5).

As others mentioned in the comments, the bag does not have a lot of 'big' storage spaces. This is more of an adjustment than a problem for me but the best place to store books, papers, folders would be in the laptop pocket, without a laptop (or with a slimline/macbook air). There is another 'big' pocket in front of the laptop pocket but the battery pack pocket is accessed thru this pocket and may 'dent' papers/folders due to the irregular shape. At this point, my biggest concern is having stuff pressed against the battery when its in use causing heat buildup and degenerating the overall life of the battery. The only other 'iffy' thing I've found so far is the clasp that holds the top flap to the main body - the plastic connection feels week and i feel like it will wear out rather quickly (less than a year) with frequent use. The biggest 'annoyance' of this bag is the capacity of the battery itself and the cost of upgrading it (Ful sells a 6000 mAh for $50 which is roughly double the price of other similar sized batteries on Amazon). This is disappointing but i got this bag b/c i needed a new bag anyways, the price was good, and the battery pack was a bonus rather than a selling point (well, a bonus that became the selling point). That's it, now to the good stuff.

The batter pack is pretty cool, very simple to understand and get set up. I had it charging my iPhone as soon as i plugged the charger into the side of the bag. An opportunity for enhancing the product could be adding a two prong wall plug on the battery itself or the charger built into the bag. As soon as i finished charging the battery i took the bag in the house to show my wife and realized i forgot the charging cord and i envisioned this happening often enough that i might stop using the battery if it gets too annoying to remember the components. Its awesome to have a battery built into the bag but since its such a small battery, i don't feel comfortable (yet?) leaving the charger at home.

The construction of the bag itself feels very durable and i love that all of the external zippers have a little 'hiding spot' for the zipper itself so they don't rattle around or allow in water. There are many little pockets and most of them are hidden fairly well throughout the bag which is cool. They are sized/shaped at random which could be good or bad depending on the future trends of gadgets but they fit all of my little gadgets adequately right now.

I feel like the weight distribution is pretty good for a messenger bag. This is my first new bag in almost 6 years and my first true 'laptop bag' so perhaps that's part of it but it feels more comfortable over my shoulder (not over my head & shoulder as shown in the pictures) than my previous bag when filled with the same stuff. It also comes with a detachable waist strap for 'hardcore' messenger cyclists (or perhaps just for enhanced back support).

I will typically use this bag for transporting my laptop/stuff to and from my office each day which includes a 10 minute walk across campus after parking in the garage. In the warmer months, I may cycle to my office and i'm sure this bag will work well for that too. I'm not sure how well it would work for college students though since there isn't much space for textbooks (assuming they have bulky paper books rather than eTextbooks). In terms of travel, I might use it for light travel but since there isn't much room for anything besides my laptop, i'll probably stick with a backpack that holds my clothes and my laptop with room to spare. Since I purchased this to replace my old work bag, I'm satisfied with the bag (but I reserve the right to become unsatisfied if the quality turns out to be crap).

randomundertone

Love this bag, however i think the placement of the battery itself was poorly thought out... unless you like having a large square pouch poking into your laptop. Also it wont charge my Galaxy Note II. I don't know if that's because its not compatible or if the cable is broken, either way i just plugged in a spare cable to the USB port.

dslfreakdude

Is anyone else having a problem with their powerbag shutting off while plugged in and charging other devices?

I'm also pretty sure it's shutting off while not plugged in, but I am definitely sure it's automatically shutting down sometime during the night. When I wake up, it's been shut down so long that my phone has lost ~10% charge.

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